The smiling man in the FBI wanted poster is Howard Welsh, and more than 1,000 investors in his religion-themed investment scam are very keen to hear from him.

But any prayers that the Liverpool-born fugitive might rematerialise with their money have so far gone unheeded.

The 61-year-old is accused of defrauding investors out of almost £16m with a "divinely inspired" scheme he started five years ago in the US.

Mr Welsh, who allegedly set up the scam in the east coast tourist city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, disappeared from there before charges were filed at the US district court last summer.

This month a report cited an FBI source as saying he could be hiding in Britain.

Before setting up the Living Your Sole Purpose investment plan, Mr Welsh had reportedly tried selling a "magical elixir".

The FBI says one of his investors has lost £4m.

Mr Welsh found deeply religious people, many of them groups of families, and tried to appeal to their faith, telling them they should not fear he would run away with their money because if they had faith their deposits would triple.

His victims include hundreds of Americans and some Britons targeted through word of mouth, fliers, seminars in several states, and email.

The scheme had a religious, self-improvement bent but has not improved many investors' lives. Fewer than 5% saw any returns on their money.

Co-accused

Wherever he is, Mr Welsh is likely to be with his co-accused, his American girlfriend, Lee-Hope Thrasher, 51. A graduate from a well-off family, she was working for victims of crime when she met the Liverpudlian in 1997 through a mutual friend.

They set up the investment plan in 1999 and ran it until earlier this year.

The FBI say it was a suspected Ponzi fraud, named after Carl Ponzi, a conman who attracted investors with promises of quick, high returns in Boston in the 20s.

It works by paying back some investors early on to create a buzz and lure more money in.

Mr Welsh and Ms Thrasher called it a "corporation sole" scheme, normally tightly regulated tax-free investments used by churches and often linked to a specific "mission".

US court records show the couple opened bank accounts in the name of a non-profit entity called Dominion of Heaven on Planet Earth.

One of their promotional fliers said: "Some people will say, 'If this is not a business what tells me that they won't take my money and run? I would say, 'Do you have enough faith to see this through for a year?'

"If your answer is 'yes' then you will see your deposits triple."

On its website the FBI says that to make the schemes look legitimate "the victims were required to attend three-day training seminars held throughout the US. The theme of these seminars was deeply religious."

Some investors had to pay more than £1,000 to register with the scheme. They were promised they could make more than £1m on an investment of around £1,200 over six years.

A bank became suspicious in 2001 when a large sum was transferred from a Washington account of Dominion of Heaven on Planet Earth and wired to Hong Kong.

Authorities then began to discover the scope of the alleged money laundering conspiracy. Charges filed at the US district court show that money was wired to 13 different countries, including Switzerland, Nigeria, China, Lebanon and France. One of Mr Welsh's mailing addresses for the scheme was in the Bahamas.

Mr Welsh is something of a man of mystery, who is believed to have moved to the US several years ago. Friends of Ms Thrasher told the local Virginia Pilot newspaper he was divorced and had children in Washington state.

They said he had variously claimed to have worked in manufacturing, the oil-spill clean-up industry, water purification, real estate and investment planning.

Distraught

Ms Thrasher's family are distraught that she fell in with Mr Welsh. After being traumatised by a burglary in 1975, she worked for more than a decade helping victims of crime before, they say, he led her astray.

Her father Harold, 82, one of the investors in the scam, said Mr Welsh had been the driving force. He told the Virginia Pilot: "She didn't seem to have the knowledge how he was going to make the money and how he was going to pay these people I think she's strictly under his control."

In an indication, perhaps, of Mr Welsh's charisma, some of those who invested are said to be still hopeful they will see a return.

The US media reported that an investor had received an email believed to be from Ms Thrasher after the couple disappeared, saying: "We feel very good about everything so just take deep breaths with us and be surrounded by God's brilliant white light."

The FBI's wanted notices say Mr Welsh might still have contacts in the UK, but the truth is he could be anywhere in the world.

While on the run he has been in South America and Africa, and was last seen in Belgium in the spring of 2003, where he received medical treatment for a broken leg after being in a road accident.

The FBI lost trace of him there and contacted Interpol, who alerted member countries.

Mr Welsh may be using an alias, and is known to have used the name Albert D White for some bank accounts.

The Guardian contacted the FBI, Virginia Beach police, Merseyside police, Scotland Yard, Interpol, the National Crime Squad and the National Criminal Intelligence Service but none would comment on the case.

Speaking generally, all an FBI spokesman would say was: "We are seeing more religious investment frauds and those that use the internet are on the rise."